Apparatus for spray-greasing baking pans



Nov. 10, 1959 A. B. PEFFER, JR

APPARATUS FOR SPRAY-GREASING BAKING FANS 2 Sheets-Sheet -1 Filed May 15, 1957 A. B. PEFFER, JR 2,912,169

Shets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEYS Nov. 10, 1959 APPARATUS FoR'sPRAY-sRE smc; BAKING PANS Filed May as, 1957 2,912,169 Eatented Nov. 10, 1959 1 United States Patent ice body is-the spraying nozzle li'thegrdetailsj ofiwhich form animportant: part of my; invention .and will -be; described 2,912,169 I more fully below.

V V p g a Greaseisldeliveredxunderrelatively high pressurefrom u s kqgg g gg 5 -a'source of supply (not illustrated) through a pipe connection-l6to the grease receivingconduit 17 in :thezbody portion 12, the direction of greaserflow being indicated by the arrows. Near the; inner end of conduit 17 aver- ,,,tical passageway18connects'with a chamber 19 and a 0 transverse passageway 20,: the latter in turn'communicat- -v :ing with the return circulation conduit '21 (see particularly Fig, 6) whichdelivers the grease back to the source of-supply as indicated by thegarrowsin Figs. 1 and 4.

Passage 18 is;- controlled by; aipressure'relieflvalvein; the 3 form 'oflthe'baH valve 22 yieldably-held,against itsxseat by the spring-23, thettension-of which, springcan be Alrid B. Pelfer, Jr., Philadelphia; Pa., assignor to Imperial Machine Company rlne llhiladelphia, Pa., 2:

corporation of Pennsylvania ApplicationMay 13; 1957, Serial 'No.=6 58,603 v 4 Claims (31. 239-124 baking of-bread, cake and the-like.

" Theiprincipal objects of;the invention-are to provide -;-equipment for this purpose which will. yield-;the,follow ing advantages, namely, s implify-and reduce the-cost of manufacture;- increase the efficiency and rapidity ofthe e 1 --greasingoperation; reduce the consumption of grease and V; -v minimize wastage thereof; distribute the grease more uni- ,formly over the sides and-ends of the pans even 'where the length of the sides is materially greater than jthe nwidth of the ends; avoid/the mechanical, complications heretofore characteristic'of some primate-devices by mounting the nozzle in a fixed position above 'the side edges of the, pans; arrange for downward spraydischarge altered by; means of; the; adjustable spring plate24 and v ithe screw 25 ;w hich latter projects inwardly from the-outside; and is held in positions of.-adjustmentby imeans 20 of the -lockrnuts 26. In other words, the grease comes in through17'under relatively high pressure'fromacontstantly operating pump at the source of supply' rfinot shown) andthevalve 22 isv set to open at whatever pres- .:sure itmaybedesired to maintain in the spraying appara- 5 tus, the circulation-beingcontinuous in order to maintain -the temperature substantially constant, it being-understood, of-,-course,by'those skilled-inthe art, -,that- ;the

grease is heated (to; maintain; reasonable fluidity.

,. At its in'ner endand at a point-just beyond: the passager18,the delivery conduit17.is -continuedinto the-por- 1 tion 11 of the-body as clearly shown in'Fig. 5,-a suitable bushing 27 being introducedbetween the two members a 11 and 12 in orderto properly seal the passageway; A

communicating passageway 28 delivers the grease past a checktvalve (29 to the rnetering chamber130 From the .1 metering chamber anothen passageway v 31 carries-the greaseitothecavit-yfizwithwhich cavity the interior of intothe upwardlyopening pans withoutdripping and r withoutthe need for a yieldable shut-ofif-ivalve atethe nozzleitip where the discharge takes-place; increase dependability so that the; greasi-ngsmechanism willoperate awithout failure at high speeds for long periods of time; and. reduce the frequency-ofservicinggshut-downs "here- ,--tofore-necessary with previous machinesvespecially those "of-: the type in which the greasing nozzle is moved down- Wardlyto a point where the nozzle outlets: are below-.the the nozzle l5 isconnected as "will further appear. edges of the pans. -The meteringschambert-fatl; isrformedas -an Xelongated How the foregoing together-with .suchotherobjects :cylinder inrwhich is mou t d f IE PIFOC W x and advantages as may appear. hereinor are incident to q piston or plungerl 33-.--v When this. piston33ismoyed to my invention are attained .is il-lustrated in q preferred em- .the right as viewed in Fig. 1,,thegreas Wh h is trapped bodiment inithe accompanyingdrawings'wherein: .;:in the metering chamberllt) .will betforced;througha.the v Figural isa vertical.longitudinalsection takenonzthe passage '31 to the nozzle, checlevalve.29sclosingrwhen line 1-1 of Figure 4 including a diagrammatieindicatthistakes place. e e

tion of thespray patterndelivered by the nozzle; he piston-33rmay beactuated in any .desire d rnanner Figure 2 is a plan-diagram on a' smaller scale than -Figpreferably by an air aotuatedmotorldevice having apiston urel alsoindicating the spraypattern of ;the-nozzle; 34 operating. invthecylinderc35,vthe.air. pressure beingtap- -Figure 3 is a vertical cross section taken as indicated by plied,. through a, pipe K 36., ;under. the control of; suitable the line 33 on-Figure l; a .mechanism not illustrated-hereinsince it forms no part of Figure 4-is a plan view partlyin section as indicated thecpresent invention-. suflice it to saysthat whenthe air by the line 4-4 on Figure 1; r comesfin, the piston 34 is-movedswith great suddenness to .FigureYS is a fragmentary horizontal sectionstaken on v close the gapt37 betweenttheendzof the piston 33sand the the line 5-5 of Figure 4; v mend 34a-ofthe, piston 34.11 In this. way? there islarsudden Figure 6 is across section on an enlarged scale taken :1 impact or blowdelivered from the endw34a tothetpiston Y to illustrate detail;

Figure 9 is a vertical section taken asindicated bythe a line 9-9 on Figure 8; and

Figure 10 is a section on the linen--10 of Figure 8. As will be seen my improved spraying, apparatus in- :cludes a main body portion Aformed for certain cons venience in manufacture in two -parts 11 and 12 which are: suitably secured together byscrew bolts 13. 1This n body structure can be mounted on. any supporting frame 32 which. forces the grease outwardly through the .nozzle with ,snfiicient increase in pressure to. substantially atomize the grease as it discharges through thenozzle deliveryspassages .to, be dvescribedy below. A. spring'l;38 returns the piston 3410 its starting--position; after eachnblow which it .delivers to the; piston 33 and the piston .33, of course, is

returned by rthe pressure of-the oilagain entering to "refill theimetering chamber 30.

I The -amount; of grease which will be discharged from \GPIQh SHOk of the piston 33 isdetermined'by'the position work (not illustratedyby means otthe mountingtholes mf the lscrew i h f throughthclampmg 14 aws or lugs 43. Ad ustment is made by turning the Projecting downwardly from the member '11 .of the '11 knurl d 1111f andvthen p ng w i the jaws 43 by means of the handle 44 which rotates a threaded clamping bolt 45.

The details of the nozzle structure will now be taken up. The cavity 32 is of stepped formation as shown to best advantage in Fig. 7, the inner portion 32 which connects with the grease supply conduit 31 being of smallest diameter. The intermediate portion 32a is formed to receive the sleeve 46 which latter is press fitted into position. Sleeve 46 has a collar portion 46a which fits into the largest diameter portion 32b of the cavity 32. The lower protruding end 46b of the sleeve 46 is both internally and externally threaded as shown in Fig. 7. Within the sleeve 46 is a valve housing 47 held in place by the threaded hollow plug or ferrule 48 the lower face of which plug forms a seat for the inner end of the nozzle member 15. Near its upper end the nozzle is provided with a positioning band a which is embraced by the nut 49 threaded on the outer surface of the portion 46b of the sleeve 46.

Within the valve housing 47 is an ordinary ball valve 50 adapted to seat upwardly against the grease connecting passage 51, the ball being normally held against its seat by means of a spring 52 which reacts between the ball and the inner face of the threaded apertured plug 48 as clearly seen in Fig. 7. The tension of this spring 52 is sufficiently great to maintain the ball 50 against its seat in order to close the grease delivery passage to the nozzle even against the pressure of the incoming grease which enters the metering cavity 30 past the check valve 29. In other words, the pressure relief valve 22 will open under the pressure of the grease supply before the valve 50 will leave its seat against the pressure of spring 52.

In order to open the valve 50 it is necessary to increase the pressure of the grease in the metering chamber 30 in the manner already described and when this occurs the grease will be forced past the valve 50 to the nozzle for discharge from the outlets at the nozzle tip now to be described.

The lower portion of the body of the nozzle, at two opposite sides, is reduced as at 53. The tip of the nozzle 54 in line with the central longitudinal passageway is closed so that no grease can discharge directly downwardly. In the relieved sides 53 are formed a pair of oppositely disposed continuously open grease discharging slits 55 which diverge outwardly from the center and which are arranged to face the long side walls 56 of the elongated baking pans shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The slits are formed by a suitable cutting tool which enters the wall at the desired angle and it will be noted that there is a greater width of metal to be traversed by the discharging grease at the lower point 55a of the slit than there is in the upper regions of the slit. This is of importance in that it acts as a retarding influence on the grease which can be sprayed through the slit and it should be noted that the width of the metal past which the grease must travel tapers gradually from the width at the base of the slit to the width at the point 55a which is the tip of the slit. This construction provides for a greater density of spray in the direction of the length of the side than it does in the direction of the depth of the side which is an important factor in obtaining a spray pattern which uniformly sprays the entire side of the pan.

Intermediate the slits 55.are a pair of continuously open grease discharging holes 57 whch also diverge outwardly but at a far greater angle than do the slits 55. The reason for this greater divergence 'is that the holes '57 are designed to spray the grease against the end walls 58 of the elongated pans which walls, of course, are of considerably less dimension than the side walls 56. However, they are more remote from the nozzle and for this reason require a greater angle of divergence although they do not have to distribute as much grease as do the slits 55.

In connection with the general form and size relationships of my improved nozzle I wish to point out the following factors which are of importance. In the first place, it is necessary to construct the nozzle tip 15 with of the original tube.

suflicient strength to prevent damage to or breakage of the tip in case a pile up of the pans causes one of the pans to hit the tip during service. For this reason I prefer to manufacture my nozzle out of a piece of /a CD. tubing with a ,5 interior passage. By relieving two opposite sides only as at 53 I retain the intermediate portions in their original thickness which gives the strength required. Indeed, even the relieved portions tend to act as braces at the sides and, therefore, provide for a measure of strength in this direction.

I prefer to relieve the sides 53 so that the tip into which the slits 55 are cut is approximately ,6, in thickness. By forming the slits 55 in these relieved portions I am enabled to produce a slit which will spread or diverge the spray sufliciently to reach from end to end of each of the long sides of the pan which would not be true if the slits were formed through the complete thickness In other words, my construction provides slits which produce a spray pattern suitable for the long sides of the pans which would not be possible if the slits were formed through the full thickness of the tubing employed in making the nozzle. Of course, the angularity of the slits has an important effect upon the spray pattern and, as indicated above, I prefer to cut them at an angle of 48 from the horizontal because I find that this enables me to take care of practically all usual sizes of baking pans. Even where variations in angularity may be desirable I have found from experience that it requires something less than 5 variation to adapt the nozzle for any special size of pan. In fact, as a practical matter, it is seldom necessary to use a different angle. Similar changes in angularity may occasionally be useful insofar as the holes 57 are concerned but by and large the arrangement I have indicated with the holes formed at an angle of 15 from the horizontal will take care of practically all of the pans commonly in use.

By forming the slits and the holes in the manner described I provide for a well directed spray pattern which would not be possible if the nozzle tube were all of one dimension. The holes 57 are drilled through the full thickness of the metal and, therefore, provide directional discharge of the spray.

I now wish to call attention to the fact that the nozzle structure just described can be used without the interior member 59 which is shown in Fig. 7, but there may be instances when the member 59 of Fig. 7 will be of value in preventing, to as great a degree as possible, all wastage of grease by drippage from the nozzle tip. This is particularly true in situations where the discharge passages 55 and 57 have to be made of slightly greater dimension than is ordinarily customary as will further appear.

In Figure 7 the member 59 is a sleeve which is slidable within the bore of the lower end of the nozzle tip. It is mounted in place before the nozzle tip is applied, and between a shoulder 59a on the upper end of the sleeve 59 and the shoulder 60 on the inner wall of the nozzle are provided a plurality of resilient 0 rings 61. When the grease is forced downwardly to be discharged from the nozzle the pressure is sufficiently great to force the sleeve 59 downwardly slightly to compress the 0 rings 61 to a small extent. Such compression will immediately return the sleeve to its upper position the instant the grease pres sure is relieved after a discharge operation. This action helps to prevent drippage of grease from the nozzle tip through the passages 55 and 57.

By way of example I wish to point out that the incoming grease which enters the conduit 17 may be delivered at a pressure as high as 250 lbs. per square inch, more or less, depending upon the individual unit and the preference of the bakery using the equipment. The spring 23 which holds the relief valve 22 against its seat may be set to permit the valve to open at a pressure of say approximately 20 lbs. which, of course, means that the pressure of the grease being delivered to the metering chamber 30 is also approximately 20 lbs. In turn the Tamal valve .SQ operatedby the; spring. 52 must be arranged so that it will not open under normal conditions at this pressure of 20 lbs. butmust waitjintil such time as the spring 52 so thatitwill'remain closed against-as much as 80 lbs. pressure. This insurestight sea-ting and even,

at a pressure of 80 lbs. th'e'valve'can be readily opened j by the suddenblowwhich .is strucktliy the pistonextension 34a on the metering piston 33. When this occurs, the grease pressure in the metering cylinder 30 may go up to as much as 300 lbs. per square inch which is amply sufiicient to secure instant opening of the valve 50 and discharge of the grease from the openings 55 and 57 with the required spread and atomization to thoroughly grease the inside of the baking pans. The general pattern of the spray is shown by the lines 63 in Figs. 1 and 2. In this connection, it will be noted that the individual spraying streamlets do not extend all the way to the bottom of the pan (see Fig. 1) because this is not necessary inasmuch as the grease will flow downwardly on the pan sides under the influence of gravity.

In my experience I have found that best results are secured by making the slits 55 approximately .008 of an inch in width. As for the holes 57 I prefer to make them approximately .040 of an inch in diameter. These relative dimensions Will take care of the average size baking pan but it will be understood that in the case of very small pans or especially large pans these dimensions might have to be varied. Actually it is a simple matter to have in stock a number of nozzles with various combinations of sizes of slits and holes to take care of different sized pans.

Another factor which is important in securing optimum greasing operation is the angle of the slits 55 and the holes 57. For baking pans of average size, my experience indicates that the slits should be angled upwardly and inwardly at aproximately 48 from the horizontal whereas the holes should be angled upwardly at approximately from the horizontal. These angularities will produce satisfactory divergence of the greasing streams discharging from the nozzle for most pans in general use. Of course, for very small or for very large pans, these angles can be varied as may be necessary.

Finally, I wish to point out as already indicated that the combination of a nozzle having the slits and the apertures which are characteristic of my improved structure, when used in combination with the valve 50 which is located just back of the nozzle tip, enables me to almost completely avoid wastage or drippage of grease during the small interval of time which occurs between the greasing of one pan and the arrival of the next pan. This is something which has not heretofore been possible with any type of nozzle with which I am familiar. Even nozzles of the type which have a spring held closing valve at the tip and which discharge laterally upon increase of grease pressure sufficient to open the valve never seem to function satisfactorily and are generally wasteful of grease because of dripping as well as messy in operation. I attribute my success in overcoming this problem to the combination of the type of discharge openings which I employ with the closure valve 50 back in the line behind the nozzle. A valve such as the ball valve 50 can be made to seat very tightly whereas a larger poppet type valve such as those which have been employed heretofore at the tip of a nozzle can never be made to seat quite ac curately and furthermore, the slightest speck of dirt between the seating surfaces will create a tendency to leak.

The slidable member 59 coupled with the 0 rings 61 has a tendency to even further improve the operation of the apparatus I have developed although I wish it to be ...-under tq dt a t isn talw yan ce A i J I .w h o jno t o tth y, npr r'em t involve t .use of a nozz which iisJQcat d .aipo n .w lja ovet .i,de$ Qtt er s a d a th t,the n z ed esnqt. a orv ownward y to oie t; n thep s n ord r to 'l-elfectiyely accomplish the greasingoperatioml This ,is a I v ry.import tieature becau e it oids henece y f nyec pl icatin .me anic l. mea r; or then zleinto, and. out of the pans as they pass the grease delivery point on ,the conveyorj mechanism normally emip ay d, n. mach ...t. s' kin If olminimiz sgth po'ss b. l -o damaging. r breaki .t e-n9. p as sometimes occurs if the tip comes into contact yyitl i-the moving pans. In order to increase the safety factor, I have provided the guard pin 62 which faces the oncoming pans in advance .of the nozzle. Occasionally the pans will pile up or pickaback as they express it in the industry, and when this occurs, it would be possible for the pile-up to contact and damage the nozzle. This is prevented by the guard 62.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for greasing baking pans including a body structure, a nozzle supported thereby, normally open grease-discharging spray passages delivering downwardly from the nozzle, a conduit in the body receiving grease under relatively high pressure, a metering chamber in the body, a grease supply conduit connecting the metering chamber with the high pressure grease receiving conduit, a grease delivery conduit connecting the metering chamber with the nozzle, a return circulation conduit connected to the receiving conduit, a relief valve between the grease receiving conduit and the return circulation conduit, a yieldable valve normally closing the nozzle connecting conduit, said yieldable valve being adapted to maintain the nozzle conduit closed at a pressure at least as high as that which is suflicient to open the relief valve, a metering piston adapted to force grease from the metering chamber past the said yieldable valve and discharge it from the nozzle spray passages, a motor device for actuating said metering piston, and a check valve for preventing return flow of grease from the metering chamber back through the conduit which supplies the grease to the chamberfsaid nozzle being provided with a slideable sleeve immediately in back of the spray passages, and a resilient means supporting said sleeve, said sleeve being adapted to be moved slightly to compress said resilient means when said metering piston forces grease from the nozzle spray passages and said resilient means being adapted to return said sleeve to its normal position immediately after the discharge is effected.

2. In apparatus for'spray greasing elongated baking pans, the combination of a nozzle comprising a body having a bore adapted at one end to receive the grease under normal pressure, the opposite end being provided with a pair of opposed, diverging, open grease-discharging spraying slits formed in the side wall of the body, a pair of opposed, diverging, open, grease-discharging spraying holes in the body wall intermediate said slits, the said holes being formed to diverge at a greater angle than the slits, a ball valve having a seat at the grease receiving end of the bore, and yieldable means normally holding said ball valve on its seat against said normal grease pressure, said valve being adapted to open upon increase of grease pressure sufficient to overcome the pressure exerted by said spring.

3. A nozzle according to claim 2' wherein the wall of the body where the slits are provided is materially reduced in thickness as compared to the wall through which the holes are formed.

4. In apparatus for spray greasing elongated baking pans, the combination of a nozzle comprising a body having a bore adapted at one end to receive the grease under normal pressure, the opposite end being provided with a'pair of opposed, "diverging, open, grease-discharging spraying slits formed in the side wall of the body, a pair of opposed, diverging, open, grease-discharging spraying holes in the body wall intermediate said slits, the said holes being formed to diverge at a greater angle than the slits, a ball valve having a seat at the grease receiving end of the bore, a slideable sleeve immediately in back of the slits and the holes, and resilient means supporting said sleeve, said sleeve being adapted to be moved slightly to compress said resilient means when the pressure of the grease is increased sufficiently to open the ball valve and said resilient means being adapted to return said sleeve to its normal position when the grease pressure returns to normal.

References Cited the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS B eeh Dec. 18, 1945 Peeps Apr. 5, 1949 MacGregor Mar. 6, 1951 Pefier May 29, 1956 Tench Apr. 15, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Dec. 29, 1955 

